Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach Rod Marinelli talks with Dallas Cowboys tackle Doug Free (68) before taking field before playing the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Sunday, September 29, 2013.

Newly hired Scott Linehan to be passing game coordinator/play caller; Callahan to be offensive coordinator/OL coach

Scott Linehan has been hired to be the Cowboys’ offensive play-caller, Rod Marinelli has been promoted to defensive coordinator and Monte Kiffin has been given a new title of assistant head coach.

The Cowboys, less than a month removed from their third consecutive 8-8 season, announced a series of changes on their coaching staff Tuesday night. But one thing will remain the same: Bill Callahan is still the offensive coordinator.

“We feel like it is a good structure, it is a clean structure and there are a lot of positives to it,” coach Jason Garrett said.

While the shakeup on the coaching staff isn’t as dramatic as the one that took place last year, it is still significant. The Cowboys will enter 2014 with a new play-caller and defensive coordinator for the third straight season. Linehan, who will also carry the title of passing game coordinator, is the newest member of a staff that is now crowded with men who have directed offenses in the NFL. He oversaw the Lions’ attack the last five seasons and previously had been the head coach in St. Louis.

“I have a great deal of respect for him,” said Garrett, who called the plays from 2007 to 2012 and has been the head coach since November 2010. “He has a comfort level with our system, and I think the transition to him and this role will be a real positive one for our team.”

Garrett and Linehan worked together on Nick Saban’s Miami Dolphins staff in 2005. Garrett was the quarterbacks coach and Linehan the offensive coordinator. They share similar offensive philosophies and both have leaned heavily on the arms of their quarterbacks. In 2012, for instance, the only team that threw the ball at a higher rate than Garrett’s Cowboys were Linehan’s Lions.

The arrival of Linehan in Dallas is accompanied by the marginalization of Callahan, a West Coast offense disciple who handled the play-calling last season when the Cowboys finished with their lowest yardage total since 2005. Callahan will reclaim the role he originally had when he joined the Cowboys in 2012. Back then, he focused his attention on coaching the offensive line.

Asked if Callahan was comfortable with reprising that role, Garrett said, “It was the one he had when he came here a couple years ago and was hired to do.”

Garrett said he, Linehan, and Callahan will collaborate as they formulate the game plans with the input of the other offensive assistants as well as quarterback Tony Romo. Romo wielded increased influence over the game plans and the play-calling last season, helping to muddle the process. But Garrett seems pleased with the current setup as it is constituted.

“It’s a structure we are very comfortable with,” Garrett said. “It’s a structure that was in place a couple of years ago and really in place since 2007.”

For that reason, Garrett doesn’t believe there will be an awkward transition as Linehan asserts control, explaining that “it can be a positive thing.” Similarly, Garrett believes that the defense will benefit from the new coaching hierarchy.

Marinelli, who oversaw the defensive line in 2013, will be in charge of calling the plays and creating the game plans while assuming the responsibilities that Kiffin, 73, had last season. Meanwhile, Kiffin, as the assistant head coach/defense, will oversee the entire operation of the 4-3 Tampa 2 scheme he helped implement upon arriving in Dallas last year.

Kiffin, whose defense was ranked last in the NFL last season and surrendered the third-most yards in league history, will still go to practices and attend meetings while remaining a major presence inside Valley Ranch, according to Garrett.

“We feel like bringing Monte in here last year to help us transition from a 3-4 scheme to a 4-3 scheme was really really important,” Garrett added. “This guy is obviously a fantastic football coach and has been for a long, long time. He was going to spearhead this transition for us and certainly Rod was a big part of that and as we go forward these guys in these roles will really benefit our football team.”

Because of Marinelli’s broader job description, it’s uncertain how much attention he will be able to devote to the unit he supervised last season. Garrett said that he expects assistant Leon Lett and quality control coach Ben Bloom will continue to work closely with the defensive line.

“Our responsibility is to bring quality people into our organization and find the best fit for them,” Garrett said in the team’s news release. “That applies to players, and it applies to coaches.”

And on Tuesday, the puzzle that is the Cowboys’ coaching staff finally took shape.

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